Pantry Pasta (Berkshire Eagle Column)
I’m pretty sure one of the reasons pasta is so popular is that it’s so adaptable! Even when there seems to be nothing in the house, I can dig out various ingredients to make something delicious. Many age-old methods of preserving food for the pantry – for example, drying, brining, smoking – develop lots of the bold umami flavors that can give much character to a dish.
Such ingredients take center stage in the pasta recipe I wrote about in this past week’s Berkshire Eagle, and in our household, we usually have most of these ingredients on hand!
UMAMI BOMB PASTA
by Elizabeth Baer
Way back when, we used to talk about four elements of taste: sweet, sour, salty, bitter. Then we learned about umami, which had been an element of Asian cuisine for a long time. Some people refer to umami as savory, but to me it is more than that and, in some ways, can’t be easily identified with a single word.
It feels as if umami describes an intensity of flavor, and, in many instances, you can enhance whatever flavors are in a dish to elevate it to something more special. Glutamates, certain amino acids, do just that, and MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a manufactured ingredient that does the same thing. Naturally occurring glutamates can be found in most aged, dried, salted, and fermented foods. That’s why I like to add a bit of anchovy to a beef stew – you’d never know it’s there, but it will taste beefier. In fact, the ancient Romans had a ubiquitous condiment called garum which was made from small fish, salted and left to ferment, similar to Asian fish sauce. In Italy today, made with anchovies, they call it colatura di alici.
For millennia humans have aged and fermented food for storage, which means that these ingredients are great pantry staples. Taking inspiration from traditional Sicilian flavors, I like to make this pasta dish using ingredients I always have in the house. And if I have some vegetable leftovers in the fridge, I usually toss them in as well. This photo here includes some cauliflower, but other possibilities include fennel, green beans, zucchini, or even frozen peas. Traditionally this sort of pasta, because of the anchovies, would be served with breadcrumbs as described here, but if you want to add or substitute some Parmesan, another source of umami, go right ahead!
SICILIAN-INSPIRED PANTRY PASTA
Serves 2, can be doubled
INGREDIENTS:
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided, plus more as needed
½ cup plain breadcrumbs, store-bought or homemade from leftover bread
4-6 anchovy fillets (2-3 whole anchovies)
6-8 sun-dried tomatoes, cut into strips
1 cup leftover vegetables, such as cauliflower or green beans, optional
1-2 garlic cloves, halved
⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste, optional
3 tablespoons golden raisins
2 tablespoons pitted olives, black or green, chopped
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 teaspoon lemon zest (about ½ a lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (about ½ a lemon)
8 ounces pasta, preferably a strand
DIRECTIONS:
Bring a pot of salted water for the pasta to a boil.
While the water is coming to boil, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat until shimmering and fragrant. Add the breadcrumbs and stir just for a minute or two until they begin to get some color. Remove from the heat as they will continue to brown a bit more from the heat of the pan.
If you are using whole, salted anchovies, rinse under running water to remove the salt, and then fillet, discarding the bones. Place the fillets on a paper towel to dry a bit. If you have tinned fillets in oil, use straight from the tin, and place any extras with the remaining oil in a small container and refrigerate for another time.
Heat remaining olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes, leftover vegetables (if using), garlic, and red pepper flakes (if using). Anchovies often splatter, so I like to cover the pan for a few minutes to reduce the mess! Add the raisins, olives, and capers and stir to combine. Add the pine nuts last, and keep an eye to make sure they don’t burn. Once lightly brown, reduce the heat. Remove the garlic and discard.
Cook the pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, add the lemon zest to the breadcrumbs and the lemon juice to the sauce. When the pasta is al dente, move the pasta pot right next to the sauté pan and turn the heat underneath the pan back up to medium. Remove the pasta from the water with tongs* (or a spider or strainer if using a shape pasta) directly into the sauté pan. Stir gently to combine, add a tablespoon or two of pasta water to keep moist. Drizzle with olive oil, if desired. Portion onto plates and top with toasted breadcrumbs.
*Alternately you can use a colander to drain the pasta, but if you do so, be sure to save some pasta water.